No Boob Tube...Day 37

Actually I've not had any boob tube for over a year as the tv I have doesn't have a picture tube, as most are nowadays.  So I guess we need a new slang term for the good ole television. Ok, wow, what a change I've experienced.  I don't have an automatic knee jerk reaction to turn the television on as soon as I get home or eat or come home later at night after being out with a friend.  I'm excited about this change.  I can hardly believe I'm almost done with the fast.  Amazingly, I'm almost worried about getting my freedom back as I'm afraid I'm going to throw away my time.  So I am going to figure out this week how I plan to let tv back in to my life.  It cannot have full reign of my time!!  I refuse to be ruled by a piece of technology in my house.  And it's pretty wild, I seem to fill my time just fine without that box...humming in the background.  In fact I think I probably have been more productive than I used to be. There were many more stressors than usual throughout this journey that I never anticipated.  They made me want to turn on the tv and escape right into it to forget all about everything happening.  I had to turn to God more, I was forced.  How sad to have to be forced into the arms of the one who cares the most and can do the most in remedying my hurt and concerns.  The hardest things can have the most profound effect upon ones life. 

Auto pilot...Day 1

Ok folks, well here I am.  I've put tv on the back burner for awhile, in addition to Facebook.  The 2 greatest time suckers and wasters in my life I believe.  I made a pact with a friend to do this for 40 days and nights just like Jesus did in the desert.  Here I am less than a couple hours in to my first evening and of course my knee jerk reaction was to turn the tv on while making dinner.  Isn't it crazy what becomes a habit in our lives.  How is it that it seems so easy to make bad habits?  I mean it's almost like we are on auto pilot at times.  Auto pilot is very convenient, but it's not the safest mode of transportation, at least not 24/7 and definitely not during a storm.  I'd say that I'm definitely going through a storm in my life right now, so the last thing I should be running on is auto pilot.  I should be running "on God", He needs to be the pilot of my life.  So, I go through each day not thinking about what I do, just doing it...click on tv, go off about some person at work, getting road rage, watching some violent sex filled movie, no thought at all...filling my mind with garbage and spewing garbage.  Back and forth.  What a sad existence.  I was thinking today while making my dinner, kind of along the lines of what Dave Ramsey says "If you live like no one else today, later you can live like no one else".    So in terms of living my life, in order to change my life, I must change how I'm living day to day.  I cannot expect my life to change when I don't do anything different.  That's a definition of insanity right, doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting a different outcome each time?    Well, I'm done being insane!!

40

Is my life half over? I feel so much regret, longing, sadness for what never was and never will be. I remember saying when I was 25, "I don't want to turn around and be 40 having not lived and yet 40 is here. It arrived, yet uninvited. Though it's not as if I haven't lived. I've traveled and met lots of different kinds of people. My jobs have definitely been an experience. I've had the privilege to meet people and hear stories that have given me perspectives I never knew before. I've grown through these unexpected acquaintances, as fleeting as some of them have been.

I am so blessed yet my heart aches for what I haven't had in my life...a love that makes my heart feel as though it may burst and become giddy at the thought of someone. The butterflies from their touch. A love that makes me want to give my whole being to someone else, to share my life with them, to become one with them. The happiness of having that person in my life to love and serve and be loved by them.

So....I've given myself to my work, as one might say. I give of myself most every day to strangers I rarely see again. I can only hope I've impacted their life in a positive way that will lead them to a better life or at least a time with less worry or pain. Is this the journey my God made me for? Is this the tour He expected of me? Is this His plan? Have I made Him smile...I hope. Have I made him proud...I can only pray I have and will continue to. So often times I feel he is frowning down at me, discouraged by my choices and performance. I pray for His guidance, comfort and a joy in my heart for the next 40 years or for however long I'm destined to be on this foreign soil.

Untouched

What happens without touch? I heard on the radio this week that each person should get at least 4 hugs a day in order to just "survive", let alone thrive. Wow, I'm seriously in a deficit in that area. I should have claimed bankruptcy years ago. I imagine others would find themselves in the same predicament. No bonds are formed, no touch exists regularly, people reach out sporadically through technology, but it's not the same. Now when we hear the word technology we think of progress, moving forward in our day to day lives. But is moving forward really a good thing? Who actually defines what moving forward means? It seems that the more things become technologically advanced, the less people in general are needed, which in turn results in less interaction. You cannot reach a sales representative on the phone. People are eliminated from the retail equation because of self-checkouts. We can check in at a computer at the airport. Will the next step be for a robot to actually bring me my food at a restaurant? So not only in the work place where we conduct business, but in our social lives as well, it seems, there will be a lack of personal contact. No personal letters received. No phone calls made. We only text, send email, post "statuses". Short blips of info spewed out to a person, friends and acquaintances, the world. We are too busy going here, doing this, doing that, being "busy". What are we producing that on our death bed we can hold on to? Communication by text, facebook, computer...such plastic communication. Plastic is cold and hard and has no character. Gone are the days of the personal touch. We are raising the first generation of kids who may never receive a letter in the mail and who may never read a book "from cover to cover" because they have the Kindle. Wow, that truly scares me. What will this full technological age bring besides lots of those who are untouched?

Are You on Life Support

Even though this expression has a negative connotation, shouldn't we all be on life support? Not physically but emotionally and spiritually? No doubt about it, we must definitely depend on our Father in heaven, but we also are in dire need of the support from our brothers and sisters in Christ. Spiritual siblings, whose hands are willing to hold us and hearts willing to love us and help us carry our burdens. We should not derive our significance and security from our family and friends, but their encouragement is irreplaceable.

Encouragement from others is like experiencing an emotional face lift. It's a jumpstart for the heart! It's the gift of courage and it doesn't cost anything for us to give and the rewards we reap are priceless. Building each other up is so important, because the way we treat each other has a domino effect on all those around us. And if we all focused on having servant hearts and hands, we would be one step closer to having the Lords Kingdom on earth.

We were not put on this earth to go it alone or endeavor for selfish desires alone. If one were to analogize and those that know me well, know I love a good analogy, here's how one might describe a person with no "life support". If a car does not have any gas, it goes nowhere. You might be able to tow it, role it or push it down a hill, but eventually it will stop going forward without the energy source it so desperately needs. I believe that's what encouragement is for humans. We may get towed along by lifes current or pushed down by rough times or drug along by the pressures of life, but we will not go very far without love in action on our behalf. We all know how expensive gas has become, but yet I don't believe one can even put a price on encouragement or love in action toward others.

Price of a gallon of gas $2.50
Price of the car we are riding in $15,000
The ones that are in the car with us, choosing to join us on the ride through lifes journey...PRICELESS

Faith is...

Waiting on God, when the only thing you desire is to get involved and "take care of it" by yourself.

Resting in God, when everything in you wants to take control and keep saying or doing until things are better or how you think they should be.

Seeking the Lord in prayer, instead of seeking out friends to complain to or spending time alone worrying.

Leaving it in His, more than capable, hands instead of analyzing the problem to death in your mind to try and fix it.

Worshipping and trusting in our Lord and Saviour.

Life

Life is a chance to stretch your wings. Sometimes stretching hurts, but as our wing span grows it helps us to cover others around us and strengthens our muscles in order to lift us to greater heights.